The Healthier Eggplant Parmesan That Still Feels Like Comfort Food

This Eggplant Parmesan is a classic comforting Italian dish makes great use of the wonderful purple vegetable. Gooey cheese on top of a delicious homemade tomato sauce with eggplant (aubergine) halves as the base. A great dish to boost your veggie intake, and fancy enough to wow guests too. No breading, no frying, just healthy comfort food!

Eggplant Parmesan in a baking tray. A portion removed and put on a plate.

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Whether you call them eggplants or aubergines, they are delicious and there is so much that you can do with them. We love their meaty texture and although they are usually great for bulking out a meal, they are the star of the show here.

A delicious tomato pasta sauce layered on top and covered in melty cheese. Comfort food perfection!

If you are looking for more aubergine recipes, try our quick Air Fryer Aubergine, easy Aubergine Salad or for something a little different, why not try our delicious Aubergine Pizza?

Jump to:

Why You Will Love It
Ingredients and Substitutions
How to Make Eggplant Parmesan
How to Stop Aubergine Being Bitter
Serving Suggestions
Dannii's Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Italian Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

Why You Will Love It

Healthy Italian comfort food
A delicious new way to enjoy aubergines
You can easily add some extra veggies to it
Perfect for a dinner party
It can be a starter or a main

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay labels.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Aubergines (eggplant) - The star of this dish! Look for aubergines with smooth, shiny skin that are all the same colour and heavy for their size. To test for ripeness, lightly press a finger against the skin. If it leaves an imprint, the aubergine is ripe. Choose smaller aubergines, as they tend to be sweeter, less bitter, have thinner skin and less seeds.
Pasta sauce - We have included the recipe for our easy homemade tomato sauce, however you can use a store bought one. Try to use the best quality you can buy, as you really will be able to taste the difference.
Basil - A little fresh basil before serving will really lighten up the whole dish.
Parmesan and Mozzarella - We used a a mixture of cheese, as it makes it deliciously creamy.

More ingredient substitutions and variations can be found in the recipe card.

How to Make Eggplant Parmesan

Prep: Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C(fan)/400°F/Gas 6.

Two eggplants sliced in half and scored diagonally.

Step 1: Slice the aubergines in half length ways and make diagonal scores across the insides.

Four eggplant halves in a baking tin smothered in a tomato sauce.

Step 2: Top with the pasta sauce.

A roasting tin containing four aubergine halves covered in tomato sauce and crated cheese.

Step 3: Add the cheese.

Four cooked aubergine halves covered in sauce and melted cheese.

Step 4: Put into the oven for 40 minutes, until the aubergine is cooked through. Top with fresh basil to serve.

How to Stop Aubergine Being Bitter

What I love about this dish is how easy it is to put together, however, if you usually find aubergine dishes too bitter, then you might want to add an extra step to this recipe.

To remove some of the bitterness from aubergine, simply sprinkle the halves with a LOT of salt, put them on some sheets of paper towel and leave them there for about an hour.

You will start to see little bits of liquid, almost like beads of sweat, appear on the outside of the eggplant as the salt starts to pull all the moisture out. Once the hour is up, rinse the salt off the eggplant and pat it dry and then follow the recipe as normal.

Serving Suggestions

Well, it is a classic Italian dish, so pasta or gnocchi is always a great choice. But you could just serve it with some protein like grilled chicken or salmon.

It's a pretty rich and filling dish, so we usually just have it with a big green salad and some fresh bread.

A baking tray with eggplant parmesan and a large serving spoon.

Dannii's Top Tips

If you want to make this really crispy, then add some breadcrumbs (panko work really well) on top of the cheese. It will change the nutritional information though.
Give this dish a veggie boost by chopping up some spinach and mixing it into the tomato sauce.
If you wanted to make smaller versions of this, instead of using eggplant halves, you could slice it into rounds and put in a baking dish (with a little sauce at the bottom). This makes it great to serve up as a starter.

Eggplant parmesan on a plate with a fork.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Eggplant Parmesan be frozen?

Yes, you can freeze this recipe, which makes it great for batch cooking. I would suggest freezing it in little foil trays, so you can just pop them in the oven once defrosted and brought to room temperature.

Can Eggplant Parmesan be made vegan?

This is a really easy dish to make vegetarian (as Parmesan isn't always vegetarian), or even vegan. Simply swap the cheese for your favourite vegetarian or vegan alternative and follow the rest of the instructions as they are.

Can Eggplant Parmesan be made in advance?

Yes, this is an easy dish to make ahead of time. Just layer it all up and then put it in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. If you are adding breadcrumbs to yours, I would recommend leaving that until just before you put it in the oven, as they might go a bit soggy if put on in advance.
If you are going to use salt to pull some of the moisture out first, I would definitely suggest doing that in advance, as it takes a while.
Make sure you bring the dish to room temperature before putting it in the oven though, as it will change the cooking time and the dish might crack.

More Italian Recipes

If you've tried this Healthy Eggplant Parmesan, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

Recipe

A plate of Healthy Eggplant Parmesan next to a baking tray with more of it in.

Healthy Eggplant Parmesan {High Fibre Comfort Food}

By: Dannii Martin

This Eggplant Parmesan is a classic comforting Italian dish makes great use of the wonderful purple vegetable.

Gluten Free

High Fibre

Vegetarian

4.96 from 22 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep: 10

Cook: 40

Total: 50

Servings: 2 people

Calories: 229kcal

Allergens:

Dairy

Ingredients

▢ 2 Aubergine (eggplant)
▢ 8 tablespoon of Tomato pasta sauce
▢ 10 g (0.5 cups) of Fresh basil - chopped
▢ 50 g (1.75 oz) of Vegetarian Parmesan - grated
▢ 50 g (1.75 oz) of Light Mozzarella - grated

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C(fan)/400°F/Gas 6.
Slice 2 Aubergine (eggplant) in half length-ways and make diagonal scores across the insides.
Top with 8 tbsp of Tomato pasta sauce.
Add 50 g of Vegetarian Parmesan and 50 g of Light Mozzarella.
Put into the oven for 40 minutes until the aubergine is cooked through.
Top with 10 g of Fresh basil.

Recipe Tips

If you want to make this really crispy, then add some breadcrumbs (panko work really well) on top of the cheese. It will change the nutritional information though.
Give this dish a veggie boost by chopping up some spinach and mixing it in to the tomato sauce.
If you wanted to make smaller versions of this, instead of using eggplant halves, you could slice it into rounds and put in a baking dish (with a little sauce at the bottom). This makes it great to serve up as a starter.